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ICON DECODER

COMPANY RATINGS
Praises, no criticism
Some praise, no criticism
No rating
Praises, some criticism
Criticism, some praise
Criticisms

Note: Ratings are based on company record, including parent companies. They are not a comment on the product itself.
> more about ratings

OTHER ICONS
Australian Owned
Outstanding Product Feature
Industry Alert

Issues

What do you value?
> Animal testing
> Conflict minerals
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> Overfishing
> Packaging & waste
> Palm oil
> See all
 

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Butter & Margarine

The Guide > Food & Drink > Dairy & Chilled > Butter & Margarine 

Bobby Calves

In order to produce milk, dairy cows have to give birth to a calf every year. Most baby ('bobby') calves are separated from their mothers within 12 hours of birth. Every year 700,000 calves as young as five days old are sold, to be killed and processed as young veal for human consumption, hides for leather and pharmaceutical by-products.  [Animals Australia]
  • Media on RSPCA's campaigning against an industry proposal to let calves heading for slaughter go unfed as a cost cutting means.   [Sydney Morning Herald]
  • See why we haven't included Bobby Calves as an 'Industry Alert'.   [FAQ]
  • Consider reducing or removing dairy from your diet   [Product alternatives]
  • Find out more about this.   [RSPCA's 'What happens to Bobby calves']
  • Choose products from companies that have animal welfare on their agenda, such as Elgaar Farms, Barambah Organics or How Now.  [Elgaar Farms]

Palm Oil

Palm oil is found in roughly 50 per cent of all packaged products on supermarket shelves including shampoos, baking oil, chocolate, cosmetics, chips, cookies, margarine and soaps.

Unfortunately, not only does palm oil promote heart disease, but the vast plantations that grow oil palm trees have contributed to the destruction of the rainforest of South East Asia and threaten the survival of animals such as the Orangutan in Borneo, the Sumatran tiger, and Asian rhinoceros. Additionally, burning after deforestation accounts for significant greenhouse gas emissions. Despite this, it has recently been deemed a potential saviour as a renewable resource for use as a biofuel.
  • Palm oil may be in a product but labelled simply as 'vegetable oil'. An indicator however is if the nutritional panel lists saturated fat and it's higher than 50%, and yet there no animal fat listed as an ingredient, there is likely to be palm kernel oil, palm oil or coconut oil, as a component of 'vegetable oil' (most likely to be palm). See the various names for palm oil  [Palm Oil Investigations]
  • For a list of branded products that do not contain palm oil, see the 'Helping you buy responsibly' section on the Borneo Orangutan Survival website.  [Borneo Orangutan Survival]
  • Check out the Issues section of our website for more about palm oil  [ethical.org.au/issues]
BRAND COMPANY OWNED RATING
Norco  Norco   Australian Owned  Some praise, no criticism2
Nuttelex  Nuttelex   Australian Owned  Some praise, no criticism2
Paris Creek Farms certified organic certified organic Paris Creek Farms   (Maggie Beer Holdings) Australian Owned  Some praise, no criticism2
True Organic certified organic certified organic Remarkable Milk Co   (Kyvalley Dairy) Australian Owned  Some praise, no criticism2
Ballantyne  Ballantyne   Australian Owned  No rating3
Raw C  Natural Raw C   Australian Owned  No rating3
York Foods  York Foods   Australian Owned  No rating3
Alfa One  Walter & Wild   NZL  No rating3
Farmer's Table  Bega Cheese   Australian Owned  Praises, some criticism4
Beautifully Butterfully  Aldi Australia   (Aldi South) GER  Praises, some criticism4
Sunny Vale  Aldi Australia   (Aldi South) GER  Praises, some criticism4
Harmonie some products certified organic some products certified organic Arla Foods Mayer Australia   (Arla) DNK  Praises, some criticism4
Lurpak  Arla Foods Mayer Australia   (Arla) DNK  Praises, some criticism4
Allowrie  Fonterra Australia   (Fonterra) NZL  Praises, some criticism4
Girgar  Fonterra Australia   (Fonterra) NZL  Praises, some criticism4
Mainland  Fonterra Australia   (Fonterra) NZL  Praises, some criticism4
Western Star  Fonterra Australia   (Fonterra) NZL  Praises, some criticism4
ETA  Goodman Fielder   (Wilmar) SGP  Praises, some criticism4
Gold'nCanola  Goodman Fielder   (Wilmar) SGP  Praises, some criticism4
Logicol  Goodman Fielder   (Wilmar) SGP  Praises, some criticism4
Meadow Lea  Goodman Fielder   (Wilmar) SGP  Praises, some criticism4
Olive Grove  Goodman Fielder   (Wilmar) SGP  Praises, some criticism4
Supafry  Goodman Fielder   (Wilmar) SGP  Praises, some criticism4
Copha  Peerless Foods   (Peerless Holdings) Australian Owned  Criticism, some praise5
Fairy  Peerless Foods   (Peerless Holdings) Australian Owned  Criticism, some praise5
Miracle  Peerless Foods   (Peerless Holdings) Australian Owned  Criticism, some praise5
Tablelands  Peerless Foods   (Peerless Holdings) Australian Owned  Criticism, some praise5
Vitalite  Peerless Foods   (Peerless Holdings) Australian Owned  Criticism, some praise5
Wik  Peerless Foods   (Peerless Holdings) Australian Owned  Criticism, some praise5
Devondale  Saputo Dairy Australia   (Saputo) CAN  Criticism, some praise5
Great Ocean Road  Saputo Dairy Australia   (Saputo) CAN  Criticism, some praise5
President  Lactalis Australia   (Lactalis) FRA  Criticisms6
Bertolli  Upfield   (KKR) USA  Criticisms6
Flora  Upfield   (KKR) USA  Criticisms6
ProActiv  Upfield   (KKR) USA  Criticisms6
Westgold  Westland Milk Products   (Government of China) CHN  Criticisms6



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